Attempting to get fit but keep injuring myself

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I'm pretty out of shape. Not overweight, if anything could do with gaining a bit, but pretty unfit. Feel like I have no strength whatsoever. Went for an easy walk back in December and my right hip and thigh have been painful since. Went to physio but really struggled with some of the exercises and having to go on a rehab programme which starts next week. In the process of trying to do the physio exercises I noticed my right knee was also painful when bending and weight bearing. Then my right shoulder seized up painfully the day after doing a session of the exercises. My knee still hurts on bending and feels quite unstable so I'm using a knee support periodically. My shoulder is better than it was but still stiff and achey. I've already got arthritis in both my big toes so these additional joint issues are concerning. I really want to get fit but everything I do results in injury of some sort. Anyone have any ideas as to why this might be and what I can do to prevent it happening again?

How is your health generally? How old are you? It sounds like whatever exercise you are doing is just too difficult for you even if most people would be OK. I can really relate to this. I have had to downgrade to the simplest most basic exercise possible in order to be able to do any of it. I'm sure you can find something but you really do have to start with the gentlest movements possible. I found looking on YouTube for exercises for seniors or the elderly or just chair exercises is helpful.

I have a sil like this. Nothing for ages, then goes crazy and far too much too soon. so she gets very sore, and stops for months. And repeat ...

You have to restart gently and give your body time to stretch and adjust, or you will keep injuring yourself.

The pains could be muscle soreness from working muscles harder than they are used to, joint pain from over stretching, or joint pain from damage or disease.

If it is muscle soreness or joint pain from over stretching, then you should be ok to dial back the intensity of the exercises a bit but keep on doing them. Building up the muscles around joints, particularly the knees, helps with joint stability.

I would go back to the physio and explain the difficulties you are having. They should be able to advise whether to push on or scale things back.

i find gentler exercise like yoga, Pilates swimming to be much better. I do do anything that’s hard on joints like running etc.
I think muscular pain is probably fine, but joint pain not.

Thanks all, I'm only 39, feel much older atm. The physio said I have some inflammation in the hip area and the pain radiates down my outer thigh muscle. She said its greater trochanteric pain syndrome. I have a leaflet on it. I thought the physio exercises were supposed to be pretty gentle but I think things like weight bearing on my right side and too much bending aren't helping. Trying to do clam shells was agony for my thigh/hip. Tried switching it to straight leg and still really hurts. Next Friday I'm in with the rehab physio so hopefully they can help more. I feel like I've only been doing normal stuff and getting injured :/

Oh these are physio recommended exercises? That’s not good. Poor you, that sounds rubbish. I guess you can only feed that back and get them to modify them.

This must be very frustrating for you. Can you try aqua jogging or other water based exercises? Cycling may be worth a try (spin class in a gym?). If you can find something you enjoy that doesn't cause pain, you can build up your fitness to the point where walking becomes easier - and then add that to your routine. Good luck.

I know someone who discovered in her 40s (after years of pain) that she had been born with hip dysplasia which was not picked up (third world country). It was diagnosed by xray (new GP) after 5 years of being misdiagnosed by others. Just a thought...there may be something more to your pain.

What do you mean easy walk? How many miles and what’s sort of terrain? I am an experienced hill walker and it’s amazing how people underestimate what some terrain can do to the body if you are not used to it. For a really unfit person especially close to 40 a couple of miles on the flat is enough to start with.

This happened to me and I’ve had to learn to take things very slowly and concentrate on technique. For example, 3 years ago I decided to do hiit, did a load of squats, hurt my knee and had niggly knee pain for two years. I can now do squats but no more than about 10 and only with careful technique. Similarly I would find my ankle hurting after a 2 mile walk on the flat, which was resolved with a very good pair of walking boots. I am early 40s.

If I were you I would start with Pilates - make sure you have a good teacher.

I think the key thing is you refer to “normal things”, but normal is different for everyone. For me in a “normal” day I cover anywhere from 5-6 miles a day walking with the dog and never have any aches etc from that, I don’t class that as my exercise, on top of that I go for a run or to the gym (pre-pregnancy anyway). But my BIL who is actually only a few years older than me, not particularly overweight just very unfit, joined us for a dog walk a few weeks ago, only 3 miles, and for days afterwards was complaining about how sore and tired his legs were. Everyone has different fitness levels, you have to find yours and build slowly from there to avoid injury.

Take the hint: nothing good comes from exercise.

I would stick with anything described as low impact and low intensity...thats what I do!
I have pain in my hip and knee and have done for most of my life (pretty sure I have 1 leg shorter then the other!!). My exercise routine is weight training (dumbells and vibration plate), pilates, walking and cardio (mini stepper and exercise bike).
Its all stuff reduces the impact on your joints.

Ah, I had about two years of injury after injury, it was really frustrating.

Get advice from the rehab physio about what exercise you can safely do. The pain when doing your physio exercises could be down to bad form or something else.

Incorporate some stretches into your day - regular stretching helps with flexibility and mobility and in turn helps protect you from injury.

Did you suffer childhood trauma by any chance OP?

Sorry, but maybe I'm missing something here - what has that got to do with it?

@EspressoMacchiato have you seen me on other threads? 😂 Joking aside, yes. I have spent my entire adult life dealing with anxiety because of it and the resulting tension from this has definitely not helped matters.

@CharSiu pretty easy. Just around a country park and a bit of woodland. Mostly flat. Probably 3 or 4 miles.

@Galectable this is quite possible as I walk funny and was a breech baby. They didn't scan the hips back then either so could have been missed.

I go to an osteopath who checks my alignment and corrects if necessary. I had SPD in pregnancy and beyond and it was the osteopath that helped resolve it. I had a "clicky hip" as a baby but wasn't treated and there are still positions many years later that I have to be gentle with (such as rolling into side plank) that can still be felt in my pelvis.

I started going to the osteopath 3 months postnatally when I was still in pain and limping around. The poor pelvic alignment caused other muscle strains. After a few sessions, the pain eased and I realised that I was limping out of habit and trained myself out of it. I went on to take up running.

Building muscle gently in a low impact way tends to be good for most people. Swimming, aqua aerobics and chair based exercise with gentle weights tend to be a good starting point. A pilates class is likely to be good too- with the difficulties you've had, a teacher can help with alignment and would be considerably more useful than videos where you can develop poor habits.

@BogRollBOGOF thanks, i think swimming is a good shout. I'll just have to motivate myself to shave my legs, which I never do any more 😆

I never shave my legs in the winter but swim every week, no one cares at all (and no one can see once you are in the water).

I have some of the same symptoms as you op and I have hip dysplasia/snapping hip (both sides) not diagnosed until adulthood, which has also contributed to back issues and general body rubbish-ness! It's worth a mention to the physio just to rule out...?

If OP had hip dysplasia, what would she do differently to be as fit as she can be?